Rescue for the Dead: The Posthumous Salvation of Non-Christians in Early Christianity

by Jeffrey A. Trumbower

Overview

Christianity is a religion of salvation in which believers have always anticipated post-mortem bliss for the faithful and non-salvation for others. Here, Trumbower examines how and why death came to be perceived as such a firm boundary of salvation. Analyzing exceptions to this principle from ancient Christianity, he finds that the principle itself was slow to develop and not universally accepted in the Christian movement's first four hundred years. In fact, only in the West was this principle definitively articulated, due in large part to the work and influence of Augustine.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195140996
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	09/27/2001
Series:	Oxford Studies in Historical Theology
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	9.49(w) x 6.48(h) x 0.88(d)